In 3 weeks.......

3 weeks from tomorrow is our court date. PLEASE PRAY THAT WE PASS!! 40% of families fail the first time. Just got word today that courts are closing for a month on August 22nd. Our court date is the 19th so if we don't pass it will probably be November before we could pick Nile up. That will break my heart. PLEASE PRAY WITH US.

Moving on....

Well, last night as we filled out our travel packet paperwork we came across the section to put the baby's American name. We have had a name picked out that we've liked for a year but Clay has a hard time finalizing decisions. It was good for us to have to commit to a name. With the support from some great friends Clay decided to go ahead with the name. So his name will be..........drum roll please.............




Nile 
 I cannot put his middle name b/c its his Ethiopian first name and we cannot reveal that until after court. Our court date is the 19th of August.

Speaking of making hard decisions, most recently we've purchased a mini-van. I love it, Clay is dealing with it. We are impressed with the amount of space and the kids think it's the best thing ever.

We got our travel packet and tenitive travel dates on Friday. If we pass court on the 19th we will be traveling to Ethiopia on the 12th of September. We are so excited and are shocked that everything has moved so quickly. The traveling part overwhelms me a bit b/c of all that is involved. There are several very specific things you have to bring with you and more paperwork to keep up with. We are currently looking at different travel agencies and getting quotes for plane tickets. We will be in the air for 17 hours total. I will need some good books to read!

I know many of my prayer warriors read my blog so here are some prayer request.

-that we get a good deal on our plane tickets.
-that we get all neccesary paper work before we travel.
-that Nile stays healthy!

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world.
The Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and fertile soil, but the former being the longer of the two. The White Nile rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, with the most distant source in southern Rwanda and flows north from there through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and southern Sudan, while the Blue Nile starts at Lake Tana in Ethiopia flowing into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet near the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

Baby's room

Wow, things are moving very quickly for us now. Therefore, we decided we needed to get the baby's room ready. We are thinking we will travel mid Sept if we pass court in August. Such a wonderful surprise! Here is a glimpse of his room!
The naming game is coming along. I think we have the name but need to do some finalizing before I announce.
Next on the agenda is getting our shots. Working on in the next week or so. Fun stuff!


You have to check out my friend's blog. They just got home from Ethiopia with the cutest child EVER!!!!

We have a court date!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is HUGE. It means that courts are NOT closing in August and we are THRILLED!!! Our court date is August 19th, so mark your calendars. We need to pray that we will pass. If we pass we will travel 3-4 weeks later!!! I never dreamed it would happen so quickly! In September I could be holding and kissing on my 3rd child.

An ORPHAN'S TICKET HOME!!!

Want to attend an incredible, life changing event that helps bring orphan's home? Please come with us. This is our adoption agency's organization. It's so awesome. When I saw Tom Davis was going to be there I signed up immediately!! Click here to read more about it!

Today was the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was at the pool with my mom and the kids and my cell phone rang-- the special ring that I had set for our agency. I jumped out of the pool saying this is it, this is it!!!!!!!! My heart was pounding. We got info over the phone about his name, situation, ect..... Clay drove from Nashville to meet me to see the photos of him. He is 1 month and beautiful!!!

I cannot tell much about him on here but I'll tell you he's precious!!!! We are in love and cannot wait to pick him up. Everyone asks when we will travel. It really depends on if Ethiopian court close this summer or not. If not we may travel in September, if it does it may be November.

I received two pictures of him and he is tiny. We will let you know when we pick a name for him!

I am still giddy and on cloud 9!!!!!!!!!!!

A year ago today......

One year ago today we started our adoption process. What a cool year it has been! We have learned so many things and met so many awesome people. We love to share our story with others. It has been amazing seeing God's hand working in our lives and the lives of those around us!!! We knew God called us to this adoption for a greater purpose than just adding to our family and we have already begun to see God changing hearts.

Yesterday we got a call from a friend telling us that we were the #1 family for an infant boy referral. So the next baby boy is ours!! I cannot wait for that call. My heart jumps every time my phone rings. I want to see that boy's face. I know once I see him I will want to jump on a plane and get him. We most likely will get caught in court closure in Ethiopia--meaning it will probably be the end of the year before we can travel to pick him up. :( That will be hard having a child on the other side of the world! But I know that God has him picked out just for our family and we won't travel a day earlier or later than what God has planned. This process teaches you patience and trust!!

I will let you know when I get the BIG CALL. I told Clay to answer his phone just like he had to do when I was nearing my due dates!!!